Whisky Review: The Glenrothes 1988 (Bottled in 2014)

Tasting Notes:

The Glenrothes 1988 (Bottled in 2014) ☆

Style: Sweet and Spicy

Nose:

Candied orange with a generous slice of ginger. Lemon citrus brimming tenderly, peppermint, assorted traditional dried fruits with loads of apricots. The aroma is rather delicate but the core looks very solid.

Palate:

Similar construct to the nose but the sherry component is much more prevalent on the palate. Sweet red grape coat wraps around the dried fruits and spicy nucleus. Shaking off raisins and brown sugar dust, we have big honey malt amped up with hints of tannins and dryness tailing it. Increasingly savoury overtime, rather juicy and complex than I first thought. Impressive.

Finish:

Thick fruity honey trickling with vitality. Smooth and delicious.

Thoughts:

Despite generally bottled at 43%, I personally feel Glenrothes puts in a fair amount of emphasis on spiciness and that might not be very beginner-friendly. While the ginger notes draw away some attention but when I spend time with this dram, there is a lot going on from the malty and fruity side – solid and delicious flavours hiding under the spicy edge of the whisky. Celebratory dram.